How it works
The math behind the number.
VitAmizeMe doesn't guess. Every risk score, every warning, every recommendation traces back to a source table or a cited rule. Here is what happens when you log a dose.
1. Dose normalization
Supplement labels are a unit zoo. 400 IU. 10 mcg. 1.2 mg. Some labels use RAE (Retinol Activity Equivalents); others don't. Before anything else happens, every dose is normalized to a canonical unit using conversion factors that are specific to each nutrient. Vitamin A, for example, uses 1 IU = 0.3 mcg RAE. Vitamin D uses 1 IU = 0.025 mcg. Vitamin E is split between natural and synthetic forms with different ratios. All of it goes through a single unit-converter so downstream code never sees a raw label value.
2. Reference lookup
For your age, sex, and life stage (pregnancy and lactation included), VitAmizeMe looks up the RDA, AI, and UL from the DRI tables. A 32-year-old non-pregnant adult female has different thresholds than a 14-year-old male or a lactating 22-year-old. The thresholds aren't rounded; we use the Academies' exact values.
3. Threshold evaluation
Each nutrient in your stack is evaluated against its UL. The output isn't a single badge; it's a percent-of-UL plus a threshold result (within safe range, elevated, exceeded, or not-determined). Nutrients with no established UL are flagged as "no established limit", not "safe", which would be misleading.
4. Chronic exposure
One dose tells you little. VitAmizeMe computes rolling averages over 7 days and 30 days, with special treatment for the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) that accumulate in body tissue. A 30-day average at 120% of UL for Vitamin D means something fundamentally different from a single high dose, and the app surfaces that trajectory explicitly.
5. Interaction detection
Your current stack, your medications, and your conditions are checked against a rule base of evidence-linked interactions. Each rule specifies the nutrients and medications involved, the mechanism (absorption conflict, competitive uptake, enzyme induction), the severity tier, and a citation URL. When the app flags an interaction, you can one-tap through to the source.
6. Risk Index
The headline number is a composite of four components: acute (today's intake vs. UL), chronic (rolling averages and fat-soluble accumulation), interactions (active, severity-weighted), and condition-specific adjustments (e.g., iron in hemochromatosis). The index is 0-100. Above 80 triggers a "consult healthcare provider" notice, informational, not prescriptive.
Why a Risk Index and not just warnings?
A single score gives you situational awareness at a glance. The warnings are still there, with sources, one tap away. But if you log four supplements in a day, you want to know the state of your entire stack before you look at the component parts. The Index is the instrument panel; the warnings are the maintenance log.
Not a medical device
VitAmizeMe is a safety-monitoring tool, not a medical device. It does not diagnose, treat, or prescribe. Scores and alerts are informational, grounded in publicly available reference data. Always consult a healthcare provider before changing a supplement or medication regimen.